WASHINGTON (AP) - Questions about Hillary Rodham Clinton's email practices in government haven't gone away with her press conference on the subject, even as she tries to get her preparations for a presidential campaign back on track.
Her mea culpa on Tuesday, acknowledging she should have used a government email address while secretary of state, satisfied some campaign-focused Democrats while others fretted she had yet to put the issue to rest. Among Republicans in Congress, plans were discussed to call her before a House committee to face questions about her use of a private email account and how that might play into the enduring debate over the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
The committee's chairman, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, said Wednesday he wants an independent review of the private server Clinton used for emails while she was secretary. That set up a possible confrontation with Clinton, who has said she will not give up control of the server although she wants the emails she turned over to the State Department to be released.
Gowdy said neither Clinton nor the committee should determine which emails are made public. "Let a neutral, detached, disinterested observer make that call," he said. "Somebody's going to have to have access to her server. You don't get to grade your own papers in life."
Also Wednesday, the Associated Press filed a lawsuit against the State Department to force the release of email correspondence and government documents from her tenure as secretary of state.
The lawsuit, which follows Freedom of Information Act requests that went unfulfilled, seeks materials related to her public and private calendars, correspondence involving longtime aides likely to be prominent in her expected campaign, and Clinton-related emails about the Osama bin Laden raid and National Security Agency surveillance practices.
The focus on Clinton's emails has jumbled what had been expected to be a smooth glide toward the kickoff of her presidential campaign next month. The former secretary of state had planned to spend March promoting her work on women's equality, a top issue for someone who could become the nation's first female president.
Instead, questions about Clinton's email habits have dominated her activities in the past week, following revelations that she used a personal email account at the State Department and did so via a private server, altogether a striking departure from the norm for high officials.
While Democrats have dismissed the notion that Clinton's emails are something voters will care about come Election Day 2016, her silence - aside from a late-night tweet sent last week - had led several of her former colleagues in the Senate to urge her to tell her side of the story.
Related videos:
Associated Press fact checks Clinton's email statements
Hillary Clinton gets no mercy from late night comics over email explanation